Maxwell’s Demon

Feature Film, 78 mins, 1998
Written and Directed by David Clark
Produced by David Coole & David Clark

Independent-minded femme fatale, Helvetica Bold (DARCY DUNLOP) is having a child – her way. But when the sperm bank operator Rosetta Stone (MONICA TAP) mysteriously commits suicide, Helvetica Bold turns to gumshoe Dick Valard (ANDY CURTIS). His investigation leads him to the hapless astronomer Maxwell (MARK DAVID STEWART), a participant in strange dream experiments in Rosetta Stone’s lab and as it turns out also Helvetica Bold’s unwitting sperm donor. As Valard probes deeper, he begins to unravel an intricate web that entangles an array of eccentric characters until Maxwell’s Demon finally catches up with him.

‘Maxwell’s Demon’ is an experimental narrative film that recasts the Oedipus Myth as a film noir movie with a sci-fi time travel twist. As well as being a homage to the hard boiled detective movies of the 1940’s, this film also quotes scenes from nine famous ‘Oedipal’ films from the history of cinema including ‘The Crazy Ray’, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, ‘Last Year at Marienbad’, ‘La Jetée’, and ‘Fellini’s 8 1/2’. The film was shot on a low budget in Calgary, Alberta and features a full big band score by Jeff Toyne.